The Marlboro Man Who Confronted Philip Morris While Dying

For years, Wayne McLaren was the rugged cowboy in the Stetson hat - the face that sold millions of Americans on the idea that Marlboro cigarettes meant freedom and independence. What Philip Morris never advertised was what that lifestyle cost him.

The Cowboy From the Ads

McLaren was a rodeo rider, stuntman, and actor from Lake Charles, Louisiana who modeled for Marlboro print advertisements in the mid-1970s. The campaign made the Marlboro Man one of the most recognized figures in advertising history. McLaren had the real-life look Philip Morris wanted - and he smoked. A pack and a half a day, every day, for nearly 30 years.

A Diagnosis and a Denial

In 1990, McLaren was diagnosed with lung cancer. Surgeons removed one of his lungs. The cancer then spread to his brain. As he went public with his story - connecting his illness to the cigarettes he had spent decades promoting - Philip Morris responded by saying they had no record of him ever appearing in their advertising.

McLaren was not deterred. He produced an affidavit from his former talent agency and a paycheck stub showing payment for Marlboro print work. Philip Morris had initially denied knowing the man at all - though the company later conceded his image had appeared in retail displays for Marlboro promotional materials.

One Last Ride Into Their Meeting

In the spring of 1992, with the cancer in his brain and one lung gone, McLaren appeared at Philip Morris's annual stockholder meeting. He stood up and asked the company's shareholders to stop marketing cigarettes to children. He died just months later, on July 22, 1992, aged 51.

His Last Words

Before his death, a television spot was filmed cutting between his Marlboro print photographs and footage of him in a hospital bed. His brother Charles provided the voiceover: "Lying there with all those tubes in you, how independent can you really be?"

His mother recalled his final words: "Take care of the children. Tobacco will kill you, and I am living proof of it."